So I did. Watching as he headed off toward the water, raising my shoulders and shifting my weight onto my elbows as he moved across the sand so swiftly and effortlessly, I wondered if anyone else was as mesmerized by the sight of it as I was.

My gaze still focused on him as he dropped his board into the ocean and began to paddle out, turning what was once a series of pretty ho-hum, semi-flat waves into a succession of near perfect barrels. Fully content to ignore my magazines and iPod in favor of watching him, until Stacia came up beside me, tucked her long, newly highlighted hair back behind her ear, hitched her designer beach bag higher up on her shoulder, and lowered her sunglasses onto her face as she said, “Jeez, Ever, white much?”

I swallowed hard, breathed in and out, blinked a few times, but that’s it. I gave no indication of having seen or heard her. I was determined to ignore her, determined to act as though she was invisible to me, and keep Damen in focus.

She stood beside me, making little tsking sounds of disgust as she harshly looked me over, but it wasn’t long before she tired of the game and moved on, shuffling down the sand and settling in somewhere near the water but still within perfect viewing distance of me.

And that’s when I let myself do it. That’s when I went against everything Ava has taught me about empowering myself by tuning her, and everyone else like her, out, in favor of my own, more positive, upbeat soundtrack. That’s when I let her words replay in my head as my eyes raked over my body and agreed she was right. Even though just a few minutes before I’d felt good about the way I looked, thrilled that my formerly unhealthy, emaciated body was now nicely filled out again, there’s no getting around the fact that I was white—glaringly white—a white that definitely required the wearing of sunglasses and that could only be described as pasty. And when you factor in the light blond hair and the white bikini—the truth is, it wasn’t pretty. I may as well have been a ghost.

And I was so far gone by that point, so convinced of her negative view of me, it took a whole, long session of those deep cleansing breaths Ava’s so fond of to get rid of it. But even so, I wasn’t willing to let it go completely, and I watched as she and Honor whispered back and forth, watched as Stacia laughed loudly, dramatically tossing her hair all around and swiveling her head from side to side, continually checking to see who was noticing her but always coming back to me, smirking, eye rolling, shaking her head in disgust, and pretty much doing whatever she could to show me just how revolting she found me. And even though it would’ve been easy enough to tune in, focus my quantum remote, and hear all the words that were and weren’t being said, that’s when I decided to stop.

Even though I was definitely tempted, especially after knowing all about Honor’s plans to overthrow Stacia, and stage her own senior-year social coup—not to mention her “amazing,” well, according to Jude anyway, progress in his Psychic Development 101 class, catching on so quickly and easily, mastering so many techniques he’s switched to one-on-one sessions where he tutors her exclusively—but still, despite all that, I didn’t do it. Didn’t eavesdrop. Figuring I’ll be getting plenty of that when school starts again. Instead, I switched my focus to Damen, enjoying the way he maneuvered through the water so gracefully, so elegantly, the way he practically glistened in the sun. A startling arrangement of bronzed skin, smooth rounded muscles, and jaw-dropping good looks as he came out of the water, board tucked under his arm, and headed for me.

Immune to Stacia’s hard, glinting stare, her high-pitched, saccharine-sweet greeting as he passed, dropped his board onto the sand, and trailed large drops of salty wetness onto my belly as he bent down to kiss me. Ignoring the way she watched so intently, so closely, not missing a beat as he settled in beside me and kissed me again, that veil of energy hovering between us, keeping us safe, but invisible to them.

Or, at least that’s what I thought, until I lifted my head to see the way Honor was looking, mostly at him. Her gaze reminding me of Stacia’s—lingering, longing, but also, or at least in her case anyway, filled with a great deal of knowing and seeing as well.

And when her eyes met mine, and I saw the smile that formed on her lips, a smile that flashed and vanished so quickly, I wondered if I really had seen it. Left only with a lingering sense of dread as I turned away from her and back toward Damen—

“Ever? Yoo-hoo?” Ava calls, as Romy giggles and Rayne mutters under her breath. “Are you still with us? Still enjoying your cleansing breaths?”

And just like that, my memory of the beach collapses and I’m back in Ava’s house again.

I shake my head, my gaze meeting hers as I say, “Um—no, I guess I got a little distracted.”

But Ava just shrugs, she’s one of those nice teachers, there are no demerits in her class. “It happens,” she says. “Anything we can help you with?”

I glance at Romy and Rayne, shaking my head when I say, “No. I’m good.”

Watching as she lifts her hands high overhead, stretching from side to side, leisurely, languorously, as she looks at me and says, “What do you think? You want to give it a try?”

I press my lips together and shrug. Not sure if I’ll get in but ready to give it a go.

“Good. I think it’s time.” She smiles. “Would you like company, or would you rather go it alone?”

I glance at the twins, seeing the way they study their feet, the pictures on the walls, the hem of their dresses, anything but me. The last couple attempts to get them to Summerland have failed, and not wanting to risk making them feel badly again, I say, “Um, I think I’ll go it alone, if that’s okay with you.”